Trophy

Trophy
Developer: Gradual Games Publisher: 6502 Collective Platform: Unlicensed NES Released in US: December 2020 This game has unused areas. This game has unused abilities.

Trophy is a platformer inspired by the Mega Man series.

Unused Abilities

The password system devotes a full byte (8-bits) to upgrade flags (switches) in the raw unencrypted password. Five of these switches are used for health and weapon powerups that are obtainable in-game. The other three flags are allocated to upgrades that exist in the code and are fully functional, but cannot be obtained normally in-game.

All three unused switches can be activated using the password YVFYQ, and they will persist in subsequently-obtained passwords.

Health Upgrades

Two of the unused switches (bit flags $20 and $08) are for health upgrades. There are a total of five health upgrades in the game's code (including these two), and activating each one adds a hit point to the player's maximum health. The used upgrades are present in the Warehouse, Tundra, and Train stages.

The unused health switches can be activated with the password YRFYS.

Spawn Platform

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The third unused switch (bit flag $01) gives Trophy the ability to create floating platforms by pressing Down + B. The platforms appear in front of Trophy unless they are made in mid-jump, in which case they'll appear below him. Up to two platforms can be present at once, and each one lasts several seconds before despawning. By chaining jumps and platforms together, higher places can be reached than would otherwise be accessible.

The platform ability can be activated with the password 3VF0A.

Unused Areas

Ocean Weapon Upgrade

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Uses the tile set for the Ocean stage, but is not connected anywhere in the game. It contains a weapon powerup which when obtained sets the upgrade flag normally used by the weapon powerup in the Asteroid stage. Exiting the screen to the right results in falling off the map and dying. The area code used to load the room is $01.

Forest Life Upgrade

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The Forest stage contains an inaccessible room with a life upgrade that sets the flag normally used by the one in the Train stage. Jumping down from this room drops the player into the third section of the stage where the building opens back out into the jungle. It's not normally possible to jump up that high, but even when the top of the screen is reached by unconventional means it doesn't scroll up. This means the secret room is only linked to the stage in one direction (the exit), and so cannot normally be accessed. The area code used to load the room is $0C.

Quarry Life Upgrade

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In the Quarry is an inaccessible upgrade room containing a health powerup that sets one of the unused health upgrade flags (bit flag $08). The upgrade is up on a ledge in the room that appears to be unreachable without using the platform ability, suggesting that it would have been necessary to obtain that first. The other interesting thing is that there is another (used) upgrade room earlier in the stage containing a weapon powerup.

Jumping down from this room lands the player about halfway through the last section before the boss, but there is no opening in the ceiling and so Trophy just gets trapped in the rock wall. There was probably an opening in the ceiling at one point during development that was closed when the powerup was abandoned. The area code used to load the room is $1B.